Progress and Problems in the Fight against AIDS

Abstract
In this issue of the Journal, Palella et al. provide evidence of a massive decrease in morbidity and mortality related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.1 Among 1255 study participants who had at least one CD4+ cell count of fewer than 100 cells per cubic millimeter before enrollment, deaths decreased by 75 percent (from 35.1 to 8.8 per 100 person-years) between early 1994 and mid-1997, and the incidence of AIDS-defining diseases decreased by 73 percent (from approximately 50 to 13.3 per 100 person-years). During this period, progressively more intense antiretroviral therapy was introduced into clinical practice. These improvements occurred not . . .